


Paper

by Emloy



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: AU, College AU, Dina is too, Ellie - Freeform, Ellie is a bit ooc, Ellie's POV, F/F, Okay maybe everyone is slightly ooc, alternative universe, dina - Freeform, it's supposed to be cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:13:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26590444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emloy/pseuds/Emloy
Summary: Getting accepted at her dream college led Ellie to move to Jackson. Where her life as a lone wolf was quickly put to an end by a drunk guy and an unusual conversation with a beautiful girl.Another plotless college AU with Dina, Ellie and the best pick up line ever.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 38
Kudos: 150





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It was supposed to be short.  
> It was supposed to be cute.  
> Well, I tried.
> 
> Hope you’ll enjoy it.  
> Have a nice day!

**_Ellie’s personal guide for a roller coaster of feelings:  
_** **_Step 1: Freak out in joy because you were accepted at your dream college.  
_ ** **_Step 2: Freak out in panic because you were accepted at your dream college.  
_ ** **_Step 3: Repeat._ **

As of right now, Ellie Williams had successfully mastered Step 1. Including all the little details of: forgetting to breathe for a few seconds, staring at a letter for minutes without actually reading it as well as gripping a piece of paper as tightly as possible without ruining it. 

Quickly nearing Step 2, she faintly heard Joel closing the front door as he got home from work.

Panic. Big panic. 

“Joel!”

College. Away from home.

“Joel!!”

Well, temporarily, but still. In the last six years the maximum time she had spent away from her home had been six days. A school trip. 

Joel's steps were unique and if Ellie had not been so focused on her letter, she would have been able to tell exactly where in the house he was. 

“M’here, what’s wrong?” His usual deep voice sounded tired after a full day of work but he crossed the kitchen with three quick and purposeful steps to reach his daughter as soon as he realized that she seemed quite distressed. Looking over the poor piece of paper that ended up being a bit crumbled by her tight hold after all, it took him less than a second to understand the situation. The elegant logo in the top right corner telling him all he needed to know.

“Ahhh.” He hummed as a proud grin was slowly growing on his lips. “I knew it.” His large hands patted her shoulders approvingly to get her out of her stupor and Ellie could barely move the letter out of the way when Joel pulled her into a tight hug. Into a very much needed hug. 

“I got accepted.” She mumbled unnecessarily. He probably saw that just a second ago for himself, but she felt like she had to say it out loud in order to make it true. “They accepted me.”

“Of course they did.” How exactly he had been so sure about that, Ellie wasn’t sure. To her, Jackson College seemed like a powerhouse and it would only pick the best of the best or something. So she thought they wouldn’t want her. But Joel had always believed in her. She blindly put the letter on the kitchen table and finally hugged him back.

**_Step 3: Repeat._ **

When she finally pulled away from the reassuring hug, there was a broad grin on her face.  
“Oh fuck, I’m going to study music!”

____________________________

The letter - unfortunately, but of course - was now not just crumbled in the middle section, but also slightly damp in the top right corner. Good thing it was just meant to be for her to keep. Otherwise she probably would have to iron it before she could show it to anyone besides Joel.

Ellie was sitting at the kitchen table while Joel was cooking some super good smelling pasta. With both her hands she straightened the paper as much as possible to stick it into her journal right next to her new personal guide.

“Ya know, that city, Jackson,” Joel started as he pulled out two plates from a cupboard and began to fill them with noodles. “My brother still lives there.”

Fixing the last corner with a tiny piece of invisible tape, Ellie looked up. “Tommy?” The name was actually the only thing Ellie remembered about Joel’s brother. He wasn’t exactly a common topic between them. Joel just happened to mention him once in a while.

She closed her journal and pushed it to the far end of the table. It didn’t really need tomato sauce stains - the personal book already looked old and used enough. The spine of the black book was fringed, some of the pages had dog ears and it didn’t close properly either because of all the pictures Ellie had stuck in there. 

It was never supposed to be so full. But it had slowly turned into a collection of important thoughts and events. It all started on her first holiday with Joel. Nearly six years ago. When they went fishing and Joel had a tiny book where he wrote down notes about when and where they had been already. It was messy and full of receipts from gas stations and fishing shops, but fourteen year old Ellie was fascinated.

So Joel brought her something similar. A black journal that he found at a gas station one day. It was a lot bigger than his own tiny note block, but it had been the only thing available back then. 

At first, Ellie had tried to copy him by writing down places and timestamps. Then she caught a pretty big fish so proud-little-Ellie had to write that down too. A photo of her and Joel also needed to be part of her first page and when they finally got home from their trip Joel allowed her to cut out parts of the map so she could glue it into her journal as well.

So, no. It was no diary. Sometimes she would write barely a few sentences in a month. Sometimes one trip covered two or three pages. Once, the entire summer was summarized by the words “ _It’s too hot i’m dying lol_ ” and a sketch of a melting popsicle with two little x’s serving as its eyes. 

“Yea, Tommy.” Joel said eventually, placing down the plates and sitting down opposite of her.

“You sure he still lives there?” 

“Yes. You see… Actually, I did call him a few days ago.” Ellie, who was inches away from stuffing her mouth with pasta, let her fork sink once again.

“You called him?” A nod. “Just like that? I thought… you didn’t talk for years?”

While he was looking at his steaming food he had yet to start eating, his fork still completely clean when he put it down again. Joel nervously scratched his neck. “Yea, it was a bit awkward.”

“No joke.”

“But you see, you said that y’are afraid of living alone- “

“-uncomfortable.” she instantly corrected him, before she could even get what he was hinting at. In a particular rough night Ellie had once told Joel that ending up alone was her biggest fear.

“Uncomfortable, then. Well, while I file an application to be stationed in Jackson from now on, you know, it will take some time to get through and Tommy already lives there.”

“Don't tell me…”

“He’s a good guy, Ellie.” Joel quickly added, “His house is not too far from that college of yours, and it’ll only be for a few months.”

Ellie stayed silent for a few long seconds. If she hadn’t been that hungry and if there wasn’t that delicious food right in front of her, she’d have probably fled to her room at this point. She needed to think. Was living with a quasi-uncle she’d never met better or worse than living alone?

Eventually she picked up her fork again and began to eat in silence. Joel looked at her for a few moments longer but didn’t push her.

Meeting new people never had been something she was looking forward to, but moving to a new city and attending college would surely require that. Also, she was studying music. Hell, she’d have to learn to deal with all kinds of new people anyway no matter what type of career she’d be choosing in the end.

And Tommy, well, he was Joel’s brother. It’s not like he was a total stranger. He was family. Kinda. Even if she’d never met him. He was Joel’s family and maybe Joel wanted him back in his life. They haven’t talked in so long. Maybe they should have met with him earlier, or at least talked to him. But until now Joel had never… 

The delicious pasta was suddenly hard to swallow. What if Ellie was the reason that Joel had not reached out for his brother yet? Did that even make sense? Was she overthinking things? Probably.

Okay, screw all that.

No matter the reason, here was the possibility to reunite this family. And she would god damn do that. 

“Only for a few months.”

____________________________

Maybe she shouldn’t have agreed to this without knowing all the details first. Maybe she should have told Joel that this was a stupid idea. Maybe she should have begged for a room in the dorms. Okay, maybe not that.

But here she was. Alone.

Standing on a porch, late in the Friday afternoon. Because stupid Joel had to work on the day Ellie had to leave. Her suitcase standing beside her, her old backpack over one shoulder, in her left hand her guitar in a black case. Her other hand was lifted up to her shoulder level only inches away from the wooden door. But she had still to knock.

She’d do it any moment now.

She could do it.

The guitar bag in her left hand felt as if it was getting heavier with every second and Ellie sighed in frustration about her own behaviour before she finally knocked on the door. 

The door opened seconds later. But whoever this person was, it most certainly wasn’t Joel’s brother.

_Fuck_ , this was the right house, wasn’t it?

“Uh, hello. I’m Ellie.” She greeted awkwardly and to her surprise the tall blond woman on the doorstep smiled warmly in response. 

“Oh, Ellie! I’m Maria.” 

Oh, right.  
Joel told her something about Maria this morning.  
But he said so much other stuff, that Ellie nearly forgot about that.

‘Remember to be polite.’ _Oh right. Oops._

‘You’ll manage just fine.’ She had already fucked up the greeting - _perfect._

‘Stop scratching your tattoo all the time.’ A nervous habit of hers. 

Maria - who Ellie now remembered to be Tommy’s wife - had already taken a few steps back inside and was keeping the door opened with one hand in order for Ellie to come in. “I’ve been waiting for you! Must have been quite the long trip with the train to get here. We’d have come to pick you up, but Tommy will be home a bit late today and he’s got the car. Oh, follow me, here gimme that, upstairs.”

Ellie was led to a fairly large room upstairs. A bed, a desk, a closet as well as a fluffy carpet and a big window. It still looked kinda empty but really nice. A lot nicer than any dorm room probably. And she didn’t have to share it with a random stranger. As Ellie quickly unpacked most of her stuff Maria was telling her things about their life here. How both she and Tommy usually worked until late afternoon, that Tommy would train a soccer team in the evenings, that they’d have a key made for Ellie in the next few days, and that they were so excited to meet her. _Yea sure._

But she had to admit, while Ellie at first thought that Maria’s bubbly nature was going to be annoying, she quickly realized that this was not right. Yes, Maria talked a lot. And actually, while Ellie didn’t care for half the information she was getting, as long as Maria was talking, Ellie got away with her short answers and didn’t have to tell anything herself. 

Maria checked her phone as it buzzed. “Tommy will be here in half an hour, so we can have dinner together.”

Oh. 

  
  


**_Ingredients for an awkward dinner:_  
** **_family you barely know  
_ ** _**lots of silence  
** _ _**potatoes** _

Ellie had suspected it before she even knew anything about Tommy, but he kinda was like Joel in a lot of things. He looked like Joel, he was a bit grumpy like Joel, and he absolutely wasn’t as talkative as his wife. He had greeted Ellie with a single nod, and a murmur that sounded like “Joel’s kid, huh.” and was probably not meant for Ellie. His brows were furrowed the entire time, but he clearly made an effort to act normally as he asked her if she was alright so far and she received a single pat on her shoulder when she answered in the affirmative. 

Maria had asked a few questions about his day though his answers were short, his eyes were on Ellie the entire time but he never really addressed her. Feeling intrusive, Ellie ate her share quickly and excused herself early. Maria’s rambling had been much better than this awkward silence. 

Sitting on the bed that was supposed to be hers for the next few months she could hear Maria and Tommy arguing faintly from downstairs. It was probably about her. She wondered at what point she could have done or said something to make this whole situation less awkward.

The only light source was the large window, though the sun was setting slowly. But even this light was very limited by the fact that the sun was already hiding behind the neighbours house. The room was slowly getting darker as she hadn't bothered to turn on the light.

Looking around in her new room she searched for familiar items. Her guitar. But she didn’t feel like playing. Her journal. She reached for it and opened it, but after just a few lines she didn’t feel like writing anymore either. She let herself drop backwards on the mattress with a sign, the journal falling onto the carpet.

  
  


**_Things I miss from home:  
_** **_my bed  
_ ** **_my room  
_ ** **_Joel’s pasta  
_ ** **_Joel_ **

  
  
  


The following days, Maria was still as nice to her as she had been from the start - clearly trying to soothe the tension in the house, while Tommy barely acknowledged her. Deciding to give poor Maria a break, Ellie had spent the majority of the weekend either outside or in the room they had assigned her. 

College classes - to her great surprise - were absolutely phenomenal. The rooms were big and newly renovated, her curriculum was nearly completely planned in the mornings leaving the afternoons free for her. The music classes weren't that full of people and the group of guitarists was actually pretty tiny, only counting Ellie and four other guys. They seemed nice enough, maybe a bit spoiled from wherever they’d grown up.

But that might have been true for nearly every person Ellie had met in the college so far. Maybe her standard was a bit off. While she didn’t grow up with a lot of money a lot of people that’d be probably considered pretty normal, looked wealthy in Ellie’s eyes. Which had the negative side effect of her feeling inferior, making it harder to befriend these people. 

  
  


**_Best time to make friends: 2 am_ **

  
  


Her life as a lone wolf did end pretty soon though, and very unexpectedly at the same time. Arriving a bit late at Tommy’s house on the next Friday evening - just late enough to miss dinner time, Ellie immediately headed for the room upstairs not even realizing that Maria offered to make some sandwiches for her.

A few hours of sleep later, in the middle of the night, she started to regret that decision. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly had woken her up, but now her stomach loudly disapproved of her previous decision. She should have at least bought some food in the local store. 

_Urgh. Hungry._

The light switch was too far from her bed to reach and she had the curtains closed tightly ever since she realized that her window was extremely close to the neighbours house. She didn’t really enjoy the thought of other people seeing her sleeping. Ellie blindly fished for her phone to use it as a flashlight and as a clock. Her phone told her it was a little after 2 am.

The house was dead quiet. The only sounds were Ellie's super cautious steps as she sneaked downstairs, making sure to close every door behind her so that she wouldn’t wake the other residents of the house.

Upon seeing the freshly made sandwiches in the fridge, she made a mental note to thank Maria and to try to be at least a bit more friendly to her. They were delicious. Just like everything else that Maria cooked. 

Well, apart from the potatoes on her first day. But that wasn’t Maria’s fault. The potatoes were to blame. Really.

Eating in silence, Ellie’s every move was unnecessarily slow, as if biting the sandwich too fast would wake up anyone. The constant ticking of the clock on the wall was the only thing to break her perfect silence.

Well, that was until someone banged on the door. Very loudly.

It took Ellie a few moments to realize that it was actually at the front door, and she hurried to open the large wooden door before the strong knocking would wake up the entire neighbourhood.

“Yooooo, Dina-” A very disheveled asian boy tumbled inside, and if Ellie hadn’t instinctively caught his upper arm he might have crashed into the floor with the tipsy steps he’s been taking. Well, he crashed into Ellie instead. She groaned in annoyance.

“Dina, can weee like… talk about thish again…” He mumbled and Ellie gripped both his shoulders to pull him off of her so that she could look him in the eye. He was quite tall, maybe taller than Ellie, but thanks to his current hunched posture they were pretty much on the same eye level. His dark eyes half covered by equally dark strands of hair that were falling in every direction as if he had never ever seen a hair brush before.

“Dude, you’re fucking drunk.”

“You’re...” His eyes squinted like he was grandpa trying to read the newspaper despite not having his glasses on. “...not Dina.” Seeing that he was a bit clearer now Ellie let go of him and crossed her arms in front of her body, standing tall with broad shoulders.

“Nope.”

He groaned, rubbing the side of his head with one hand.

“And I’m pretty sure that whoever Dina is, she probs' wouldn’t wanna talk to you like that.”

He was nodding slowly, clearly defeated. Ellie’s posture softend. His expression, the fact that he was kinda drunk, and that he was looking for a girl called Dina... How possible was it that he had been dumped by this girl? 

“Well, uh, sorry.” He managed to sound a lot less slurred. Now that he actually looked at her he sure seemed a lot more normal. “I should, uhm.” His gaze suddenly focused on something behind Ellie. “Are these… sandwiches?”

“Huuh, yes?” 

“How much do ya want for one, mate? I’m dying right here.” And with his poor posture and the dark circles under his eyes that statement seemed pretty much true. “Ya know, I kinda lost my dinner on the way here it you know what I mean and-”

“God. Dude, no. Don't you dare to give me these details.” Ellie was quick to cut him off but the grin on his face told her that he was just messing with her anyways. Clearly the weirdest guy she had met so far, but she kinda instantly liked him. She hit his shoulder, mentioning him to come in and closed the door carefully. “Just keep your mouth shut, alright? People are sleeping.”

In the end, he didn’t. He basically talked non-stop. As soon as he finished one of Ellie’s sandwiches they moved to the living room as that would mean an additional door that Ellie could close to muffle their conversation.

The old TV was playing some stupid cartoons for hours now on the most quiet volume possible and Ellie was sipping on some juice while her new friend, who introduced himself as Jesse, right now gave her a small speech about how much he liked cheese. 

Both were sitting on the fluffy carpet right in between the couch and the small table. Ellie had her head leaned against the cushions of the couch’s seat while Jesse had his arms on the small table, watching the end credits of the superhero cartoon with disappointment.

“What’s next?” Ellie asked though she didn’t bother to reach for the TV magazine. Instead she stretched like a cat and let herself fall back against the couch.

Jesse took the hint and inspected the TV magazine. “What time is it anyway?”

“Uh..I dunno. Pass me my phone?”

Without looking up, Jesse reached for the phone on the small table and just threw it on Ellie’s lap. Whether he aimed that well or it was pure luck that it didn’t land underneath the couch was anyone’s guess. Poor old phone had his fair share of scratches and tiny imperfections anyway as Ellie would usually treat it in a similar fashion. 

“Urgh...’bout 6:10 am.” She answered eventually and Jesse grimaced instantly. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you rather feel like.. ‘The perfect wedding’ or ‘My little pony’ or this show where they discuss politics for three hours straight?”

“Oh god.” Ellie groaned.

The happy intro of the pony show started playing before they decided on anything else and both of them just shrugged it off. It’s not like the alternatives were that much better. It didn’t stop Ellie from commenting on it though.

“Who the fuck is watching a kids show at 6 in the morning?” Jesse shrugged and chuckled and for a second it looked like he was about to answer when a third person joined their conversation.

“I was about to ask the same.” Tommy. Standing in the door frame of the living room looking down at the two sitting on the floor. 

Ellie didn’t know how to respond but apparently the situation was a lot more awkward for her new friend.

“Oh, what the fuck... ” Jesse said instinctively as he clearly recognized her quasi-uncle. “Uh, I mean, mornin’ Coach.”

  
  


**_My new best friend is my favorite idiot...and rival?_ **

  
  


Turned out, Jesse was the same kind of idiot whether he was drunk or not. After that awkward night two weeks ago that had started with sandwiches and had ended with colourful ponies, they easily became best friends. Including, but not limited to: random text messages, stupid pictures, a truck load of spongebob memes as well as Jesse introducing Ellie to his enormous video game collection and Ellie teaching Jesse how to stand on a skateboard without looking like a grizzly on drugs. Well, half of the time. They still had to work on that apparently.

“How the hell did you not see those stairs?” 

“I saw them.” Jesse instantly defended himself as they sat down at the local coffee shop, his short sleeved shirt did absolutely nothing to hide the matching bandages on both his elbows. “I just saw them a little bit too late.”

“Yea, riiiight.” Ellie smirked, remembering very vividly what exact expression had been on Jesse’s face as he realized he was about to kiss the concrete. Luckily his quick reflexes had saved his face from any damage, but instead led to nasty scratches on the elbows.

A young blonde waitress brought the coffee they had previously ordered at the counter and Jesse’s bright smile had Ellie rolling her eyes. 

“Guess that means you’re now over Dina?” She asked when her friend was finally able to tear his eyes off the retreating form of the waitress.

“I’m over her for months now.” 

Ellie tried her best to keep her face straight and lifted one eyebrow. She might have known Jesse only for two weeks so far, but it was clear as day that this was a lie. The only reason they got to know each other in the first place had been Jesse mistakenly knocking at the wrong door at 2am in the morning. Dina, as Ellie had learned shortly after, lived in the house next door. She had yet to meet her though.

“That doesn’t count, I was drunk.” Jesse murmured as he pulled his coffee closer to himself and drowned an unholy amount of sugar into it.

Ellie however settled only for a bit of milk. She let her gaze travel through the small interior of the coffee shop, the comfy benches that were mostly empty at this time in the early evening. The black chalkboards that were listing the different sorts of coffees and their respective prices in a curly handwriting, and the two girls that were working behind the counter were talking softly to each other.

Jesse, who had clearly been following her gaze, gave a satisfied smirk. “I saw her first.” 

Ellie groaned when she realized that he was talking about the waitress behind the counter. “I wasn’t doing anything.”

It had been in the lengthy talk about Dina that they had a few days ago that Ellie had let it slip that she ‘felt similar when her girlfriend had broken up with her’. The words had been out before she actually thought about it, and Ellie all but panicked for a second before it was clear that it didn’t bother Jesse in the slightest. The only conclusion he apparently drew from that talk was that Ellie was now his ‘rival’.

“Just saying.” He shrugged before turning his attention to his coffee again. 

  
  
  


**_Ellie’s personal guide for a roller coaster of feelings 2.0:  
_** **_Dina._ **

  
  


It was the third week living with Tommy and Maria, and Ellie had to admit that it slowly was becoming a lot easier to handle. While Maria had been easy to get along with from the start, Tommy had been very distant with Ellie for the longest time. Though meeting Jesse certainly helped that problem a bit.

Tommy was the coach of a local soccer club. A position he really seemed to enjoy. Hence, he was also Jesse’s coach. At first, Ellie had just been curious so she followed Jesse's advice to just ‘come with me and try it’, though ever since she started participating in the training sessions her relationship with Tommy significantly improved.

Apparently it was much easier for Tommy to see her as part of his team than part of his family. Maria had been slightly annoyed when they would start to call each other “Coach” and “Williams” instead of their actual names, but she couldn’t really complain. Joel was just happy that Ellie started to feel more comfortable in Jackson.

It was Thursday evening and after a delicious dinner Ellie was sitting legs crossed on her bed, her journal at her feet, her guitar in her lap, as she wrote down possible combinations of chords for a new melody until she couldn’t focus anymore.

Her laptop had served as her only light source, until its screen suddenly went dark due to a low battery. Usually that meant this little room was left completely dark, with the curtains closed Ellie’s eyes had always a hard time adjusting to the darkness. 

Well, usually.

Because today was different. It was still dark but the curtains gave off a soft warm glow, not enough to actually illuminate the room but enough for Ellie to still see the outlines of the furniture.

Her guitar was placed carefully on the nearby desk. The journal received a little bit more rough treatment as it simply fell onto the carpet as Ellie got up slowly, soft steps taking her to the curtains. The dark fabric felt heavy in her hand as she carefully opened the curtains and peeked outside to find the neighbours room that was facing her window illuminated for the first time since she moved here.

In a neatly decorated bedroom, a desk stood right in front of the large window that was rivaling Ellie’s in size. Sitting there, hunched over a book, was a dark haired girl about Ellie’s age. Both hands holding up her head as she looked down, long and beautiful dark hair covering her shoulders and face. 

Even though the two rooms were at least fifteen feet apart, Ellie thought that the dark haired girl looked defeated, somehow incredibly sad. The longer she was watching the more her shoulders seemed to tremble. Ellie's immediate instinct was to help, but what options would she have? She could just go over but there was no way she could explain herself. 

Watching her felt so wrong. 

Like she was a creep. A stalker. 

Ellie closed the curtains as carefully as she had opened them, letting herself fall onto her bed again. This wasn’t her problem. She was not supposed to stick her nose in other people’s problems. She wouldn’t. She didn’t want to be a creep. 

Sadly though, her mantra did not help much. Laying on her back, mostly watching the ceiling, one hand absentmindedly rubbed over the tattooed skin, her eyes wandered ever so often to her window. The faint light told her that her neighbour was probably still up. 

Didn’t Jesse say that he was ‘only one house off’ when he ended up at Tommy’s house in the middle of the night instead of Dina’s? Does that mean this girl was Dina? Should she just tell Jesse about it?

_“Dear Jesse, my neighbour is either crying or just reading a book. Could you try to call your ex?”_

Yea, right. That wouldn’t be awkward at all.

Ellie groaned. This was stupid. She was being stupid. Her inner conflicts and thoughts didn’t help. She was just overthinking everything again. 

Everything was fine, probably. 

Frustrated, she got up once again, this time to turn on her lights, before she reached for the curtains again, yanking them open in one smooth motion.

As expected the additional and unexpected light source from outside had the dark haired girl looking up, and Ellie felt her heart sink as she realized that her first suspicion had been right: she was crying. The way she had quickly rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt as soon as she noticed Ellie looking at her didn’t help to conceal the fact. 

The dark haired girl’s cheeks flushed a soft shade of red and as she got up and hurried to close her own set of curtains. Ellie quickly grabbed her notebook from her college bag and a broad black marker, writing down three letters as fast as possible before pressing the message against the glass.

⌜ ⌝  
U OK ?  
⌞ ⌟

Her neighbour’s movements stopped, both hands gripping the fabric tightly, only a second away from shutting Ellie out when her eyes caught the messy handwriting. Gladly the letters seemed to be big enough to be read from that distance. Dark eyes stared at the question for a few moments before they looked up at Ellie and the girl helplessly shrugged as if she didn’t know the answer herself.

Ellie tried to keep eye contact with her as she turned the page of her notebook, once again reaching for the marker. She began to write a new message, looking up after every word she wrote to make sure she still had the girl's attention, before she held up the new page for her to see.

⌜ ⌝  
U look sad  
⌞ ⌟

A sad smile appeared on her face confirming Ellie’s suspicion. It was small, but prominent enough for Ellie to notice, even though they were about fifteen feet apart. The dark haired girl finally let go of her curtains, instead hugged her own upper body protectively, chewing on her bottom as she clearly thought about something. After a few seconds she raised one hand, her thumb and index finger about an inch apart as she answered with her gesture: _A bit._

Ellie nodded once in understanding, before turning the page again. The way the other girl’s eyes followed her movement with slight curiosity made Ellie smile gently. This time she was sure she had her attention, so she put a bit more effort into her message, drawing each letter carefully instead of just hurrying to finish it. And, drawing a little Wall-E into the bottom right corner. Not perfect, but enough to be recognized.

⌜ ⌝  
I’m ELL-IE  
⌞ ⌟

Ellie grinned as she held up her note block with one hand, the other hand motioning between her and the piece of paper. To her great satisfaction the dark haired girl covered her mouth only half-succeeding in hiding a smile. 

She then reached for something on her desk and Ellie made no effort to hide her own smile as the other girl started to write a message into her own notebook. Her handwriting was neat and a bit curly as she held up her message.

⌜ ⌝  
I’m Dina  
⌞ ⌟

“I know.” Ellie whispered without thinking, wondering if the confused look on Dina’s face was due to Ellie speaking to herself or because she somehow knew what Ellie had said. Dina was looking at her intensely as if waiting for Ellie to tell what she meant. But Ellie just stared back silently.

She was goddamn beautiful. Even with puffy eyes that had very apparent dark circles underneath them and her hair falling down her shoulders messily. The dark black strands were a bit curly and seem to be hugging her small frame. Ellie wondered how Jesse had even managed to date this girl at one point. She didn’t seem approachable. She was way out of their league. That didn’t seem fair.

Dina, who was still standing in front of the window, covered her mouth with one of her hands again as she yawned. Her eyes seemed to be only half opened by now. Ellie turned her page again. 

⌜ ⌝  
Sleep?  
⌞ ⌟

A look at the message. Then, a look at her bed. Back to the message. Apparently it was a hard decision judging by the fact Dina was once again chewing on her bottom lip. Ellie added another sentence.

⌜ I ⌝  
should  
⌞ too ⌟

With a shrug, followed by a defeated nod, Dina reached for her own notebook again.

⌜ ⌝  
Good night.  
⌞ ⌟

Ellie smiled softly at her, and held up her next note until Dina had fully closed her curtains.

⌜ ⌝  
Night.  
⌞ ⌟

It was the next morning when Ellie had _coincidently_ (definitely not a lie) looked over to Dina’s room that she saw the paper that was attached to Dina’s window with a few small pieces of invisible tape.

⌜ ⌝  
Thank you.  
⌞ ⌟

Although she wasn’t quite sure what the other girl was thanking her for, it was clear that this message had been sorely for Ellie and that alone had her lip curl upwards in a dumb grin as she headed down for breakfast.

“You’re late, Williams.” Tommy growled in his usual lovely morning manner. Maria sighed. Upon checking the clock on the wall - it was indeed two minutes after seven - Ellie grinned.

“Sorry, Coach.”

_______________________

Friday evening. Jesse was out, drinking with friends. He had invited Ellie to join him but Ellie was neither a big fan of alcohol nor parties, so she had declined and they agreed to meet Saturday instead. Well, if Jesse would leave his bed on Saturday at all.

That left Ellie playing her guitar for the most part of her evening. The small gap she left open between the two parts of the curtains were definitely not intentional. It just happened. It was a coincidence. It was totally not to see if Dina would be home today. 

She tried not to pay too much attention to the fact that her neighbour's room was illuminated this evening as well. Well, that was until the light flickered. On. Off. On. Off.

Alright. This was weird. But… It would be totally normal to check what’s going on now, right? 

She nodded to herself - that made complete sense, right?- as she put the guitar away and got up, more than just a little bit surprised to see Dina already at her window. Looking no less upset than yesterday, though this time she didn’t look caught off guard, more like she had been waiting for Ellie. She tentatively held up her notebook and Ellie couldn’t help but smile. 

⌜ ⌝  
Hey.   
⌞ ⌟

Ellie reached for her notebook on the desk, quickly searched for an empty page and wrote her own greeting. It was a bit over the top maybe, but seeing the ghost of a smile tugging at Dina’s lips as she turned her notebook for the dark haired girl to see was definitely worth it.

⌜ ⌝  
Heeellooo!  
⌞ ⌟

Dina hesitated a few moments before she turned her page. Surprisingly Dina didn’t write a new message before she finally held up her notebook again.

⌜ ⌝  
Can we talk?  
⌞ ⌟

Ellie’s response was instant as she nodded. Turning her page to write her response, she had to realise though that there was only one empty sheet of paper left. She groaned when she hit her forehead with her palm. How could she have been so stupid? She should have realised yesterday that there weren’t a lot of pages left anymore.

Fuck.

She looked up to find Dina observing her, once again biting her lip, clearly confused by Ellie’s behaviour. Ellie shrugged helplessly before responding. 

⌜ I’m ⌝  
running out  
⌞ of paper ⌟

To emphasize her point she lifted the page on one side as soon she was sure that Dina was done reading. Showing that the next page was already the cardboard back of her notebook.

Dina looked disappointed, her mouth a tiny bit open as she looked from Ellie’s notebook back to her own, then to Ellie and back to her own notebook. She could see as Dina turned a page. And turned another page. Again. And again. Ellie wondered if these four pages all had prewritten messages for her on them. The thought was somehow really adorable.

The next page seemed to be still empty since Dina then reached for her marker. One last look at Ellie, who was at this point nervously rubbing her right arm, the tattoo hidden underneath her long sleeved shirt, before Dina started to write something down. 

Dina seemed to be very concentrated as she slowly drew every letter with perfect precision.

Or not.

Because she didn’t draw letters.

She drew numbers.

It nearly took Ellie three or four seconds to realize that the page Dina now showed her didn’t just consist of random digits, but it was in fact Dina’s phone number. She stumbled backwards a bit clumsily as she searched for her phone that was charging somewhere on her bed.

_Ellie:_ _hey_  
  


Ellie could see the pleasant surprise on Dina’s face as she put her notebook on her desk and reached for her smartphone instead. 

_Dina:_ _hey_

_Ellie:_ _what did you want to talk about?_

_Dina:_ _anything_

 _Dina:_ _anything that isn’t me_

 _Dina:_ _please?_

Ellie looked up from her phone to find Dina looking at her. As if asking if that was alright. Ellie nodded before she wrote her reply. 

_Ellie:_ _sure_

 _Ellie:_ _uh_

_Ellie:_ _any ideas though?_

Texting like this was a little bit awkward but Ellie soon saw the advantages of it. Seeing Dina react to her messages and thinking about her response felt a lot more personal. Especially if their eyes would meet ever so often. Ellie sat down on her carpet, arms and phone on her windowsill, her head resting on her arms.

Dina was sitting at her desk, looking at her notebook again. Biting her lip seemed to be a nervous habit of hers.

_Dina:_ _Can I ask about you?_

_Ellie:_ _thats hardly fair_

Seeing Dina’s shoulders sink slightly as soon as she read the message shouldn’t be as adorable as Ellie thought it was. She quickly added:

_Ellie:_ _but i’ll allow it_

 _Ellie:_ _only today_

 _Ellie:_ _because you’re a tiny bit sad_

_Dina:_ _tiny bit._

_Ellie:_ _so what do you want to know?_

_Dina:_ _I’ve never seen you here before_

_Ellie:_ _is that supposed to be a question_

Dina rolled her eyes with such exaggeration that Ellie had no problems seeing the gesture from her own room. She made sure to give Dina her most beautiful grin in return.

_Dina:_ _duh_

 _Dina:_ _you know what i mean_

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short one...kinda.  
> Mhm, but maybe it serves as a proof that I'm still on this?  
> Although very very slow. I'm sorry.  
> But, if you're still waiting this: Thank you very very much!

**_Stupid idiot made me pay for his coffee…_ **

  
  


Saturday turned out to be a lot different than Ellie had expected it to be. Mainly because she felt half dead thanks to her lack of sleep. Jesse however was still his normal - slightly annoying - self since he had acted “responsible” and “got home before midnight” and made sure to point that out ever so often. 

It was in the early afternoon that he met with Ellie in the local coffee shop, drowning the fourth piece of sugar in his coffee as he commented calmly: “You look horrible by the way.” 

“Oh wow, thanks man.”

“I thought you didn’t like parties and alcohol?”

“I don’t. I just… didn’t sleep much.” 

“You missed something though. It was pretty awesome yesterday.” And with that Ellie got a very accurate report on everything that happened between 8pm and midnight. She tried to follow his monologue as she slowly sipped on her hot coffee. The cafe was quite busy this saturday. Conversations left and right as well as the ringing of the tiny bell on the door whenever someone came in or left, made it hard for the tired girl to follow his words. She realized too late that she didn’t catch his last three or four sentences at all.

“You’re talking too fast.” She eventually groaned.

“Well, it’s a lot to tell. You should just join me next time.”

“...we’ll see.” She still didn’t regret not going to that party. Texting with Dina nearly the entire night sure had been a pleasant experience even though she felt like belonging to the undead now. While she had been lying comfortably on her bed, in the opposite direction than she would normally sleep in, she had been still able to see Dina, who did more or less the same. It really was an incredibly nice way to spend the night. Though looking back, a bit more sleep would have been nice too, maybe.

The tiny bell was ringing once again and Jesse - who was able to see the entrance from his seat - sat up a bit more straight and grinned. Apparently it was a friend of his. 

“Heeeeello Deeeeeena.” Jesse greeted really slowly. 

She nearly choked on her coffee as Dina chuckled and answered. “What’s with that greeting?”

Ellie gulped heavily. Even her voice was beautiful.

“Ellie - “ Jesse explained gesturing to the red-haired girl, “ - said I was talking too fast.” 

It wasn’t until Dina actually reached their table, standing in between Jesse and Ellie with her arms lazily dropped over the back of an empty chair, that Ellie dared to look up at her. The dark hair was pulled into a neat bun, only some very short and very curly strands refused to follow the rules and fell down freely. The soft smile on her lips was nearly too perfect to be real. 

The dark brown eyes locked on Ellie. Maybe she was just overreacting and overthinking everything, but talking suddenly became hard. Ellie was lucky that she could later blame her slow reaction on her sleep deprivation as a few moments past before she found her voice. 

“Nice to meet you, Dina.” It took a bit of effort to just smile at her politely this time, but it was probably better to take this situation lightly and not stare at Dina too much, or well, at least she should try to. 

“Yeah.” The dark haired girl answered softly. “It’s nice to meet you, too. Ellie.” There was the tiniest of pauses between the two syllables of Ellie’s name reminding both of them of the silly reference on the paper message two nights earlier. Followed by a soft giggle when Ellie grinned at her. Proud that she had left some sort of impression. 

A vibration on the table pulled everyone’s attention to Jesse’s phone. His dark eyes lit up when he read the latest message. 

“Alright ladies.” His voice suddenly full of confidence as he got up in a swift motion, a satisfied smirk on his lips. “I’m outta here.” His hands ran through his hair in order to create some form of structure but failed miserably at doing so. Not that he cared.

“You got a date?” Dina asked curiously and Ellie couldn’t have been more surprised when Jesse actually nodded proudly.

“Wait - what. _You_. You - got a date?”

“Dude, did you even listen to anything I said the last few minutes?” He rolled his eyes, grabbed his jacket and was already at the door before Ellie could respond in any way. “Get some sleep, man. Seriously.”

Dina sighed softly watching the door of the cafe swinging shut. Her eyes were following his retreating form for a few more seconds. Perfect situation for Ellie’s mind to overthink.

Oh. 

Oh, right. Dina probably wanted to spend some time with Jesse, right? Ellie nervously rubbed her sleeve over her tattoo, not sure what to say. Maybe they were actually both not really really over each other? Was she supposed to do something? Maybe she should - 

“You know...” 

Dina’s voice cut her thoughts off. No matter how quietly she spoke it instantly caught Ellie’s attention. “When I saw the two of you, I was kinda hoping to just tag along in whatever you were planning to do…?” Her soft tanned hands were now holding onto the back of the chair in a firm grip, her shoulders seemed to tense up. Ellie was tempted to wait before saying anything, wondering if Dina would bite her lip in that nervous habit of hers again. 

“Is that supposed to be a question?” she asked instead, once again repeating one of their previous written conversations. It served the purpose perfectly as Dina recognized the words. The tension broke when the girl's lips curled up in a small smile. An honest smile. _Fucking beautiful._

  
  


**_Ellie’s priorities for college:_ **

**_get good grades_ **

**_write good music (lol)_ **

**_make Dina smile_ **

  
  


“I probably won't be very good company right now.” Ellie explained with a soft yawn as they had just left the coffee shop and walked down the streets back home. She took a glance at Dina ever so often, and wondered how she could be so awake. Or look so awake. She knew for a fact that Dina went to bed just as late. “But we could watch some TV together I guess?”

She nodded instantly, obviously happy with any option. “That would be nice. I just don’t really want to study now.”

A bit puzzled by that answer Ellie’s brow furrowed. “And you need a reason for that?”

Dina sheepishly avoided her gaze. “Kinda.” 

“Huuuh.”

It only took them a few minutes to reach their street, the two white houses coming into view. Dina didn’t protest in the slightest when Ellie headed for Tommy’s house. Knowing that both he and Maria were out. Whether it was for work or a date or some sort of hobby Ellie didn’t ask, trying not to stick her nose into whatever they’re doing. She was evading their privacy enough by living with them.

“I don’t have any movies here though.” Ellie explained as she unlocked the door, holding it open for Dina to enter. “And there’s no Netflix on this TV, so we’ll have to find some stuff to watch.”

The shorter girl just nodded, curiously taking in her surroundings once she stepped inside. They were standing in a small hallway, one wall holding a giant mirror with a shelf for shoes underneath, on the other side jackets of all variations were hung up on coat racks. The door on the right was open wide, leading to the kitchen.

After kicking off her shoes Ellie led Dina to the door on the left, to the living room where a small coffee table stood in between an old TV and a broad couch. The floor was covered in a fluffy carpet. All furniture in that weird greyish brownish colour.

Ellie handed the smaller girl the TV magazine as soon as Dina sat down on the couch before letting herself fall onto the cushions right beside her, one foot underneath her thigh, one foot still on the ground, remote in hand. “Something you’d like to watch?” 

Without getting any answer Ellie started to skip through the different options. Trash TV, local news, some cooking show, Finding nemo, a guy spray-painting his car. She went back to the previous channel with the animated movie. That’s not too bad. Glancing over to the dark haired girl Ellie saw Dina looking at the magazine, just looking at it, as if the paper would eventually tell her what she needed to know.

“How about Finding nemo?” Ellie asked, already setting down the remote on the small table and leaning back into the cushions of the couch.

Dina’s response was to put the magazine next to the remote before pulling up her legs on the couch to resume a comfy position next to Ellie. Leaning her head against the taller girl’s shoulder so carefully slow as if she feared that Ellie would tell her off. Maybe Dina was a bit tired as well. 

The movie had already started a few minutes ago and they missed a bit of the start but neither of the girls minded as they didn’t seem to pay full attention to it anyway. Ellie tried to keep her eyes fixed on the TV, but she had to fight both - her tiredness and the urge to look at the girl beside her instead. 

She ended up glancing at Dina ever so often. How she was leaning against her, her legs on the cushions, feet tucked under one of the pillows. Noticing how she didn’t pay any attention to the screen at all. Just looking at nothing in particular, clearly lost in her thoughts. She looked down, worried. 

Eventually the movie paused for a chain of advertisements giving Ellie enough reason to focus on the other girl without coming off too awkward. 

Well, hopefully. 

Her pale long fingers reached for the hand that was resting between them, squeezing it softly.

“Hey, you’re alright?”

Dina nodded instantly, as if it was a trained reflex to that question, before she stopped herself. She sat up straight enough to look at Ellie, the dark brown eyes focusing on Ellie for a few seconds before looking down. Long lashes covered her eyes as she shook her head once and shrugged helplessly. The shrug seemed a lot more honest than the nod. 

Running her thumb over the back of Dina’s hand Ellie tried to comfort her. Though she didn’t really know where to start. So she tried the only hint she had heard so far. “Is this still about studying?”

A small nod. Dina still didn't look up though. Ellie really wasn't used to comforting people, her first thought was to just hug her, but maybe that's too close? They knew each other for what - two days? Do these paper messages even count as knowing each other? Was it even helping to think about that now? 

She eventually just continued the stroking motion of her thumb, Dina didn't seem to dislike that, while trying to find out what's wrong. Maybe then she could help. Well, hopefully. 

“You have some big test or something coming up?”

“Yeah...” Dina admitted, her eyes focused on the thumb that was stroking the back of her hand in slow - nearly lazy - motions. “Next friday.”

“So, you’re nervous…?”

There was a long silence between them, only broken by the sounds of an advertisement playing on the big screen both of them ignored.

“You- “ Dina started eventually, still focused on their hands, not once looking up at Ellie. “You said study music. Because you like it?”

Her initial answer would have been a nod, but Dina wouldn’t see it. “Yeah, 'cause I like it.” She answered instead, not sure what this had to do with anything.

Dina nodded, though it was probably more to herself. “I study law. Both my parents are lawyers. My sister will be, too. In a year.”

“But you don’t like it?”

“Uhm, that’s not it. It’s - My sister - She -” 

Dina shrugged helplessly as she searched for the right words. “She scored best on every single exam. I get good grades, but I’m afraid I won't make it out as top of the class, there are others that… “ Her shoulders slumped and she let her forehead rest against Ellie’s shoulder, sighing deeply. “Sorry.” For the first time today she sounded as exhausted as Ellie felt.

Opting to ignore the apology completely Ellie turned her head to the smaller girl, her cheek already touching the dark hair as she spoke softly. “Feeling tired?” Dina just nodded her head against her shoulder wordlessly and Ellie could feel the shorter, unruly curly strands of hair brushing against the skin of her neck. 

Still not knowing what to say to help, Ellie eventually opted for the hug after all.

“Huuuuh.”

With a low hum, Ellie wrapped her free arm slowly around the other girl's waist, slightly tightening her embrace when she felt Dina leaning into her, and heard her releasing another deep sigh. If it was one of contentment or exhaustion, Ellie didn't know, but it still helped her to feel more confident about the gesture.

The sounds of Dory trying to talk to a whale could be heard, though the funny scene was completely ignored by Ellie as she was way too focused on the other girl. While her current position was far from being comfortable over a long period of time, Ellie didn't dare to move too much when the body against her slowly began to feel heavier. 

She leaned against the back of the couch, trying to pay a little more attention to the screen in front her, though very slowly her eyes soon closed on their own accord. 

______________________

  
  


Their nap however, was short lived as Tommy and Maria came back even before the movie had reached its last scene. The loud sound of a car door closing had both girls jumping out of their sleep nearly in sync. 

Dina quickly brought enough space between the two of them while Ellie changed the channel to the guy who was still spray-painting his car. She didn't need Tommy to find her watching kids shows twice in two weeks. He was still teasing her with colourful ponies. 

Dina was quick to excuse herself, claiming that she should really go back to studying now and even politely declined Maria's offer to stay for a cup of tea. 

After dinner and a heated discussion about the soccer game that was casted on TV, Ellie was ready to collapse on her bed and just pretend to be dead for the next few hours. 

Her eyes travelled to Dina's window one last time on their own accord, finding the other girl hunched over a book, both hands holding up her head. Ellie reached for her phone. 11pm.

Ellie: Dina

Ellie: go to bed

Dina: im good

Ellie: you’re not

Ellie: lol

Ellie: i can see you falling asleep

  
  


She could see Dina sigh as she nodded and closed the book in front of her in an exaggerated motion, putting the pen she had been using right next to it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3


End file.
